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Seattle’s self-proclaimed “superhero” Phoenix Jones won't face charges with misdemeanor assault for a pepper spray incident last month near the Alaskan Way Viaduct because of "proof problems," City Attorney Pete Holmes said Wednesday.

"However, Mr. Fodor is no hero," Holmes said in a statement, "just a deeply misguided individual.

"He has been warned that his actions put himself in danger, and this latest episode demonstrates that innocent bystanders can also be harmed."

Phoenix Jones, whose real name is Benjamin Fodor, was arrested Oct. 9 after interjecting himself into a group of people and pepper spraying several people. Fodor, 23, was jailed and released the same day on bond. When no charges were immediately filed, he said he would “continue to patrol.”

The City Attorney’s Office had the option to file charges, but announced charges would not be filed after the case was reviewed. Fodor previously told reporters he was trying to stop as assault.

Holmes staff spoke with two of the four alleged victims. But attempts to identify and interview two men who ran from the scene were unsuccessful. Based on the information available, Holmes said it's unlikely a jury would find beyond a reasonable doubt that Fodor committed a crime.

State law allows a person to use force when coming to the aid of someone that he or she reasonably believes is about to be injured.

But Holmes said in the future he will "ask our Legislature to prohibit individuals from carrying the large quantity of pepper spray employed by Mr. Fodor — far more than can be justified solely for self-defense purposes."

He also urged Fodor to consult legal counsel regarding his own potential personal civil liability "if he persists with his vigilante alter ego." Holmes said the state's Good Samaritan statutes are designed to protect individuals who happen upon — rather than actively seek out — opportunities to render assistance to others, without expectation of compensation.

"These laws are not designed to protect a branded, costumed character, his roving video crew, or their copyrighted videos from the reach of tort plaintiffs," Holmes said.

When speaking to reporters last month as Phoenix Jones, Fodor told reporters he was breaking up a fight and claimed he was the real victim of the incident. Fodor and his supporters have claimed police didn’t follow protocol.

Police say Fodor barged into the situation – something they say he's done in several other cases - and assaulted the women and men with the pepper spray.

Early morning incident near viaduct

Video of the Oct. 9 incident shows two women chasing Fodor and a man with face paint, hitting them and telling the self-proclaimed superheroes to leave. The pepper spray had been released moments before.

A woman in the group that Fodor confronted admitted to a television reporter that she hit him, but only after she said Fodor used pepper spray on her friends for no reason. The woman said his actions were assault and harassment.

"That video began in the area of 1 Av/Columbia St looking to the west," an incident report from Officer Hosea Crumpton states. "On the video a group of people could be seen on Columbia St looking to the west. The group was gathered, but there did not appear to be a fight. A/Fodor could be seen running into the group and engaging the subjects. A/Fodor could be seen pepper spraying several individuals in the group. People in the group then turned on A/Fodor and chased him away."

The police incident report shows police spoke to two people who were with Fodor at the scene. At least one cameraman typically follows Fodor as he walks around Seattle in his black and yellow costume, and both people were said to have been there to document the self-proclaimed superhero's activities.

The cameraman who took that video, Ryan McNamee, initially told seattlepi.com in an email that "police have not contacted me for a statement and has not shown any interest in my footage or what the other journalist and I saw."

Asked about the police report in which officers describe the video, McNamee said that "police glanced at my camera for a couple of seconds but didn't examine the footage or ask to see it in any detail."

However, the police report describes about a minute of the video based on the time-stamp on the footage, which McNamee posted online.

As Phoenix Jones, Fodor "has a history of injecting himself in these incidents," Crumpton wrote in the October incident report. "Recently there have been reports of citizens being pepper-sprayed by A/Fodor and his group. Although A/Fodor has been advised to observe and report incidents to 911, he continues to try and resolve things on his own.

“There was a report earlier in the night in which several nightclub patrons had been reportedly been pepper-sprayed by A/Fodor … during some type of disturbance. Those people left the area before they could be contacted by police. Officers arriving on that call noted the odor of pepper spray was still in the air."

’Superheroes’ get international attention

Last November, Seattle police officers were alerted to Fodor as Phoenix Jones and other self-described superheroes after officers were confused by their presence at crime scenes. Police said they went from and from crime scenes in a Kia registered to one of the character's godmothers.

Seattlepi.com did not initially name Fodor because he wasn't the subject of a criminal investigation. Fodor does not have any other criminal charges in Seattle. He was previously arrested in Washington after being stopped driving with a suspended license, according to court records.

In earlier interviews with seattlepi.com, Phoenix Jones has said that is his name and has not discussed his background other than saying the people in his group have military training or a martial arts background. His spokesman, Peter Tangen, said "there's nothing delusional" about Phoenix Jones. Tangen said he “just a civic activist trying to make the streets a safer place."

Fodor is also known as the mixed martial arts fighter "Flatttop." According to mixedmartialarts.com, Fodor's won his first official amateur fight in December 2006 and had his last win in July 2010. His record is 11-0, and his last fight ended in a two-round TKO.

A Seattle Twitter account, @FlattopFodor, describes Fodor as the current two-time Ax Lightweight Champion and current welterweight champion in Washington. The last tweet from the account was Aug. 5, 2010.

On Oct. 11, two days after he was arrested by Seattle police, DSHS alerted Fodor’s employer about the case said DSHS spokeswoman Sherry Hill, who handles children's administration.

"The provider was asked to remove him from any cases that we had," Hill said earlier this month. DSHS asked that he not be around vulnerable children while the case was pending, she said.

Hill clarified that Fodor is not permanently disqualified from working with kids, but the agency wanted to "err on the side of caution" by telling his employer about the assault investigation.

Fodor could go back to his job if the case is dropped and he is not convicted, Hill said.

Often an attention seeker, Fodor pulled off his mask for a group of reporters on Oct. 13, the day of his last court hearing in the assault case.

"I think I have to look toward the future,” he said, “and see what I can do to help the city.”